Karen was impressed. She hadn't expected to find a cook that could rival Hop Sing.

When she left the table that evening to go up to her room, she found herself so full that she worried about whether or not she would be able to sleep that night.

She walked up the stairs and went straight to her room. She was exhausted because it had been a long day. Lunch had been wonderful. Supper had been even better. She had felt just full when she left lunch. She had spent the afternoon unpacking her things and wishing that she was still at the Barkley ranch with Heath and Audra.

At least, until she found what Heath had slipped into her suitcase. He had put one of his shirts in her suitcase with a small note.

Dear Karen,

I thought this might help you remember that we all love you and will be close by should you need us. I hope that you think of me fondly and often, but not too often. Wouldn't want you to get distracted from your studies.

Love,

Heath

She felt the tears well up in her eyes as she held the shirt to her chest. Heath was so sweet and caring. She was so glad to have him in her life. His whole family was incredible. They had stepped in to make sure that she felt safe and protected in her new school. They offered her a place in their home for weekends so that she would feel safer and not so alone.

She dressed for bed and then wrapped herself in the shirt he had sent with her over her nightgown. She got under her covers and curled up, feeling safe and protected. She couldn't wait to see him that weekend and thank him for the thoughtful gift.

When lights out was announced for the night, Karen was already sound asleep. Mrs. Anderton simply smiled when she looked in on Karen and blew out the lantern.

By the end of the week, Karen had settled in to the new school quite nicely. She was doing very well in all of her classes and in fact was a little ahead of most of her classmates. She and Gladys had become good friends as she had with a few other girls in her class.

Saturday morning dawn clear and crisp. Karen was up with the sun, preparing to go to the Barkley ranch. She had a small bag packed and was just finishing up some homework when the bell rang for breakfast.

She went downstairs and settled in at the table, prepared to eat. Breakfast was incredible. Not that she really tasted it. She was so focused on finishing up her meal that she didn't even notice that she had been watched all the way through by her classmates.

"I think she's got a crush on that Heath Barkley," she heard one of the newer girls whisper to someone who had been there a while.

"I would wager you would be right. Of course, do you blame her? He is quite handsome and quite a catch."

"But the question becomes; does he return the feelings?"

"I don't know for certain but I do believe he might. You didn't see the looks he was giving her before they left when they brought her here. He looked like it was breaking his heart to leave her here instead of taking her back to their ranch."

"What a good-looking couple they would make! Both such beautiful people." A third girl had joined the conversation and, just as Karen finished her last bite, they all heard the wagon approaching the school.

"Mrs. Anderton, may I please be excused?" Karen asked.

"Of course, dear. And we will see you Sunday evening."

"Thank you, ma'am." Karen left the table and walked out to the front door where her bag was waiting for her. As she opened the door, Heath had just stepped down from the wagon and had his foot on the first step to the porch.

He looked up as the front door opened and smiled when he saw Karen standing there. "Hello, Karen."

"Hello, Heath. It's good to see you again."

"I missed you. So I left early. I was hoping I'd get here just in time for you to have finished breakfast."

"I had just finished my last bite when I heard the wagon pulling into the yard." She ducked her head for a moment. "I missed you too. Very much."

He smiled at her again. "Let's head back. Audra asked me to tell you that she missed you too." He stepped up closer and took the bag from her hand. Then, he took her hand and led her down to the wagon. He made sure that she was seated on the bench before moving around the wagon and placing her bag in the back of the wagon.

He climbed up and sat down next to her. Touching her hand before he took up the reins, he smiled as he set the horses in motion and started back down the drive.

Heath listened as Karen told him about how her first week at school had gone and then he told her about the week at the ranch. "The three mares that were so close foaled this week. The foals are doing pretty well so far. One of them took a little longer to get up on her feet but I think she'll be just fine now that she's up and moving. Audra and I helped Silas prepare a room for you. Got it all cleaned up and the bed made up fresh just for you, Karen."

"I hope that didn't make too much work for Silas," Karen said.

"Silas actually told me that he was glad to see that I had found someone who made me happy. He had been starting to worry about me. Of course, he worries about all of us. And he worries about Mother too. He worries that someone is going to try taking advantage of her being without a man out here like this."

"I don't think he has much to worry about there. Ms. Victoria is a very formidable woman in her own right. And she has all of you there to help look out for her as well as the ranch hands. She would be more than a challenge for anyone that tried to take advantage of her. She's a very smart woman as well."

"She is. I'm so proud to have her and the others as family. I may not be blood related to her but she has been a mother to me since taking me into her home when I came to them. My initial time with the family was not easy. I always felt like I had to fight to earn my place but eventually they all accepted me into the fold. Especially once we found out that the reason I never knew my father was that my biological mother never told him about me. Only told me about that fact when she was dying." He shook his head. "I don't hate her though. I actually feel sorry for her, hating him for so long that she kept the birth of his son from him. I feel sorry for myself having not known Audra, Jarrod, Nick and especially Mother my whole life. But I don't hate my biological mother. She gave me life and raised me the best she could on her own even though I doubt she would have had to had she told Tom Barkley about me. But I think maybe she was afraid that he would try to take me from her when I was younger and raise me with his other children. Later on, I realized that she had probably gotten pregnant on purpose, trying to snag herself a wealthy husband and get away from the town I was raised in. We never had a lot but I was generally quite happy."

"I wish I had known my biological parents. But, Ben Cartwright has been a wonderful father to me. He has always treated me like I was actually one of his children. Never did I feel excluded or left out. I never felt singled out due to being a girl either. But never treated like just one of the boys. I was treated as a Cartwright. And I loved it. The boys taught me a lot about survival. That was how I survived Annabelle taking me. I jumped from the back of a train and hid in the woods near the tracks until sundown. When I knew which way was west, I started heading south, figuring the wooded area I was in was one of them that was north of the Ponderosa. I got hit in the head by a rather good-sized rock that somehow came loose and tumbled down a cliff at me. It made me have dizzy spells and gave me a rotten headache. I kept moving though. For seven days, I kept moving in order to get as close to home as I could. I only stopped long enough to collect some berries to eat and drink some water. By the time Adam found me, I had gotten to within six days of the ranch. I guess I passed out on the path and he found me there. He told me that night when he made camp that it would be about five days to get me home. A few days later, we met up with Hoss coming from a different direction. He helped us and the next afternoon, we made it back to the house and Pa sent for the doctor. I had an awful fever from what the boys told me. They were scared until the doctor told them that they'd done a good job of getting it under control."

"How long did it take before you started going out to your parents' graves?"

"I wasn't comfortable going alone until about three weeks before you and your family came to the ranch. I was a little nervous when Pa told me you were coming. I'd never met any of you before. At least not that I remember. But I knew the family name. Pa had told me that your family had been at the Ponderosa the day I was born. That they had helped a lot with me in the first few days. Your mother even made sure that none of the boys or Pa was nervous about changing my diapers when needed. Pa says that she and Audra were a godsend in those first few weeks after my birth."

"I can only imagine how nervous Hoss would have been holding a delicate little girl in those huge hands of his," Heath chuckled. "He probably was so afraid of dropping you that he didn't even want to hold you at first."

"He told me that very truth." Karen was giggling now. She sobered up quickly. "Then, he told me that he looked into my eyes and saw the trust there. After that, he trusted himself to hold me without dropping me."

"But you've fully recovered from the ordeal you went through with that evil woman?"

"A few nightmares yet. But overall, yes. I have recovered from that ordeal. Thank you for worrying about me, Heath. You're very sweet."

"To you, yes. To anyone that tries to hurt you or take you from me, no. And I'm afraid that might even extend to my own family."

"Heath, no! Your family is so much more important than I am! You can't ever turn against them!"

"Karen, I won't lose you. I have finally found someone who makes me feel like I can be my own person and be proud of it. I won't give that up."

"I don't ever want to think about you possibly turning against your family. You can't do that. It wouldn't be right." She placed one hand over his. "Please don't talk like that, Heath. The thought that you could turn your back on your family for me isn't a good one."

"I won't talk about it for now. But I wanted you to know that, while I'm not one hundred percent certain I would, it is a possibility. Depending on where they stood in the situation."

He knew that, if they were the ones hurting her or trying to take her from him, he would turn on them just like a rabid dog. He loved Karen that much. And he was certain of that much without question.

The two finished the ride back to Barkley territory in a distinctly companionable silence. Each knew that the other was thinking about the turn their conversation had taken. But what they would be able to do about that direction neither one knew. And wouldn't know unless the situation arose.